Question! Eating more calories without increasing sodium?

tjmist

I've been eating regularly, breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner, and am not trying to starve myself but was eating around 1000-1200 calories and burning 400-600 a day on average for a net around 600 (and if we're being really honest usually lower). I swear I never denied myself or starved but just ate foods that were not high in calories. I've seen enough posts and comments on here about people eating too few calories and their bodies going into starvation mode. Fortunately that hasn't happened yet and I am still losing weight, but I want to do it right. I'm trying to increase my calorie intake but it's seriously increasing my sodium intake as well, which I am not cool with. I read 2,300 mg per day of sodium is healthy and that's what I've been shooting for, but this new increase in calories is killing my sodium intake. Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks!

Koldnomore

The best way to avoid sodium is to cook everything you eat from scratch. The closer a food is to the natural state it was when it came out of the ground the better it is for you. Make sure you are drinking a lot of water - that will help to keep the sodium from stalling out your weight loss.

Good for you for wanting to eat a more appropriate amount of food

kacarter1017

Very few natural foods have sodium. The more processed the foods are that you eat, the higher the sodium content. Fresh/frozen veggies, fruits, dried beans, whole grain pasta, oatmeal, unsalted nuts, fish, and chicken are all excellent sources of calories without much sodium. Yogurts, some cheeses, more natural peanut butters, are sources that aren't too bad. Many breads, breakfast cereals, prepackaged meals are loaded with sodium.

connorsludge

I increased from 1200 calories to 2300 calories and had the same issue. I asked my nutritionist about it and she didn't seem that concerned because the sodium was coming from natural food sources.

I looked at your diary and it didn't look like you were eating too many boxed/frozen foods, but just a lot of food with smaller amounts that added up. Sodium does occur naturally in many things we eat. My diary often looks the same way. I know that I'm often right at the limit of sodium intake, sometimes over. If I eat a reasonable meal at a restaurant, I always am.

My nutritionist said to not go too far overboard and make sure that if I go over one day, try to stay under the next and drink plenty of water, but it's really an issue for people when they go over by 100% day after day, which a lot of people do with the American diet.

DanaDark

Balance the increased sodium intake with more potassium and water. If you improve your body's ability to handle sodium, you don't need to worry too much about having a little extra.